study from Rotowire<\/a> evaluated cities based on championships, playoff appearances, win percentage and attendance, placing more weight on championships and postseason success over the past 25 years. Charlotte landed at the bottom of the list, with critics pointing to long stretches of struggles from its major league teams and a lack of titles.<\/p>\nBut fans in Charlotte say the ranking does not tell the full story.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t know, they just don\u2019t know,\u201d said Jackson Purcell, a Carolina sports fan.<\/p>\n
The report highlights historical performance, but many locals argue it overlooks the city\u2019s growth and evolving sports culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are dogging on Charlotte as a city versus the sport specifically,\u201d said Jack Sharpe, a fan who attends local games. \u201cThe Panthers and the Hornets both have good vibes going, and the Knights are always fun and competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fans say loyalty and energy in the city cannot be fully measured by data alone, adding that Charlotte\u2019s potential is a key piece missing from the analysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re on the up and coming,\u201d Purcell said. \u201cWe have a playoff basketball team, a playoff football team, and soccer looked good last year. It\u2019s going to be good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recent success across multiple teams is fueling optimism. The Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, and Charlotte FC have all seen postseason action within the past year, giving fans hope that future rankings could look different.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that ranking, it\u2019s just an overall view,\u201d said Joseph Bourhio, a Charlotte native. \u201cBut what\u2019s happening recently, players coming here, people are starting to realize this is an up-and-coming sports city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some fans say Charlotte\u2019s relatively young sports history also plays a role in the ranking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s an overreaction, because it is a younger city,\u201d Bourhio said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have the polished history that older sports cities have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charlotte\u2019s compact uptown layout is another factor fans say enhances the experience, making games more accessible compared to other major markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that you can come uptown, get food, and then go to a game,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cIt\u2019s all right here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, fans acknowledge there is room to grow, especially when it comes to gameday traditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe some more tailgating events, get fans around the stadium more,\u201d Purcell said. \u201cBut I think we do pretty good as a city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the last-place ranking, many believe Charlotte is on the verge of a shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost like a ticking time bomb with the fan base here,\u201d Bourhio said. \u201cCharlotte is going to become a place where teams don\u2019t want to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rotowire says its rankings are based strictly on data, but fans in Charlotte say heart, loyalty, and momentum are just as important \u2014 and they believe the city\u2019s sports identity is still being built.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Study cites lack of championships and team success, while locals point to growth and momentum CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,684,473,3878,685,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-694611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charlotte","10":"tag-charlotte-hornets","11":"tag-charlottehornets","12":"tag-hornets","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116337125861237051","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}